Thursday, December 23, 2010

I thought that this delicious tart would be perfect as my last post before Christmas: it’s pretty much a clafoutis with a crust – I am a crust kind of girl – and the recipe comes from one of my all time favorite cooks.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter a 24cm (9 ½ in) round loose-bottomed tart pan*. Make the pastry: stir together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and salt and stir to make a soft dough. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press evenly into the base and sides of the pan using your fingertips. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pastry is slightly puffy. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the almond meal over the base.
Now, make the filling: in a large bowl, whisk together the cream, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Add the flour and whisk until well mixed. Arrange the cherries, slightly overlapping, over the pastry base and pour the cream filling evenly over the cherries.
Return the tart to the oven for a further 40-50 minutes or until the filing is firm and golden. Leave to cool and serve with cream or ice cream.

*use a pan with high sides otherwise it won’t hold all the cream mixture